An Unexpected Visitor, Take 2
by Chandria42
Summary: Bean goes to visit Petra. WARNING! MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD! DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE FINISHED SHADOW OF THE HEGEMON! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!


Disclaimer: I do not own Bean, Petra, or Dink, or any of them. They all belong to Mr. Card. That is all. Enjoy.  
  
  
  
"Bean? Wha..."  
  
"Ho, Petra."  
  
Petra Arkanian stood and gaped in shock at the figure before her. Last she had seen him, he was still slightly shorter than the other boys his age. Now he was almost a full head taller than she, and almost skeletally thin. Dirt, bruises, and lack of sleep had served to further disguise his identity from her. Regaining control of her senses and her shock, she quickly asked him, "What are you doing here? Come in, come in! You look awful!"  
  
"Thanks. I feel awful. Do you have any food with you?" time had not only changed bean, it had transformed Petra. She had filled out in all the places she should have, while still remaining slender. Bean was stunned at how feminine she looked. The Petra Arkanian of Battle School was long gone- appearance wise anyhow.  
  
"Oh, of course! What can I get you? We don't have much, just leftovers," the voice became muffled as she entered the kitchen adjoining and stuck her head into the fridge. "We've got some goulash, some chicken something, bread, jam, milk…" Bean's voice cut her off, saying "Anything you have will be great. May I sit down?" Bean desperately hoped he could, or he might have to collapse onto the hard wood floor. After being out of training for a long time and encountering the not-so-friendly streets of Albania, his muscles were begging for a rest.  
  
"Oh, sure! I can't believe I forgot to ask you to sit down. Will goulash be okay? Bean? Bean?" Petra looked out of the kitchen to see her friend took her response one step further. His body lay sprawled over the couch fast asleep. Smiling at the sight, she grabbed an afghan from a chair and draped it over his body. With a grumble and a twist, his hand pulled it over him some more and in some more useful position. Petra entered the kitchen again, returning with a trayful of steaming goulash, a hunk of bread, and a large glass of milk. Not that he needs it…he's plenty tall now thought Petra as she quietly padded out of the room to fetch a blanket and a book. Returning, she poured herself a glass of tea and settled into the so-recently-denuded chair to watch her friend and to finally finish the book.  
  
"Uurrrgh…ouch." The tall man lying on the couch opened his eyes slowly and saw the woman he had gone to so much length to rescue asleep in a chair across from him, an unfinished book in her lap and a glass of tea on the table. When I thought of her at this time, I never thought she'd look like this, he thought as he stared at her. Her long dark wavy hair covered her shoulders and her fair skin was flawless. Tearing his eyes away from her, he noticed the food on the table and for the moment, food became the only priority.  
  
The clinking of the spoon as he laid it down to wipe off the bowl with the remaining bread woke Petra, and she smiled to see him. "So, I see you're finally awake. Was the goulash okay? And after you clean up, tell me why you're here, not that it's not appreciated, but it IS unexpected, Bean. Or should I call you Julian now?"  
  
"No, Bean will work just fine. Only teachers and my parents and other adults call me Julian. And getting clean does sound terribly appetizing. Where's the bathroom?" He only had a faint idea of how he must look. The streets of Albania hadn't been overly friendly to a foreigner meandering around-or clean, for that matter.  
  
"Down the hall, up the stairs, to the left. I hope my dad's clothes will fit; you're way too tall for my brother's. And the ones you're wearing should be burnt!" The last was said with a smile, but was meant in seriousness, for they were caked with mud and some traces of dried blood. As bean found his way to get clean, Petra rummaged about in a few wardrobes and came out with a pile of clothes she hoped would fit Bean. He had grown a lot since he first came to Battle school.  
  
Half an hour later, he stood at the head of the stairs and came down dressed in a mixture of her father's and brother's clothes. He stunned Petra with how he looked after a good sleep and a shower. His dark, medium- length hair lay flat back along his skull, and he just looked. She could think of no other words-handsome. She suddenly recalled her words to him months ago, soon after she was rescued and before they parted. "If you ever change your mind…" could that be why he was here? To cash in on that promise? If so, it was the worst possible timing. Dink, she thought, Dink Dink Dink…how could he? After all we went through, after all that we WERE to each other, how could he have just up and dumped me, no explanation, and through an EMAIL, no less! A voice cut through her angry reverie: "so, how do I look? Something passably human? I probably still look like crap, but…" the figure standing before her asked, and snapping her attention back to the matter at hand.  
  
"Wow, you look MUCH better. Most definitely human again. Now, we talk."  
  
"But first…do you have more goulash? It was really good."  
  
"I'm glad you like it. I made it myself. So, sit down. Why are you here?" Moving into the kitchen of the cozy 2-story house her family had bought a few months before, she ladled out and warmed up another bowl of goulash, and added another chunk of bread. "D'ya want more milk?"  
  
"Sure. And I'm here because I'm here. Remember that time a few months ago when Achilles took you hostage" Misinterpreting the tense look on her face as she carried the tray out to the living room, "I'm sorry if you don't want to talk about it, oh, it's ok? Good. Well, I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing." Petra nearly sagged with relief. So THAT was why he was here. He wasn't here to cash in! She set the tray down on the table and hugged him tightly. "I'm fine. Now. Tell me how you got here and how you got so beat up and tired." Settling in for a long chat, he started to talk, with brief pauses for food and drink.  
  
"Now that I've told you about me and my- um- rather disheveled appearance, tell me about you. Like when you got this house. It's NICE!" Bean reached for a glass of water and took a drink. He looked at the clock, and was surprised to see that he had been talking without interruption for about 3 hours. No wonder, then, he thought, why my mouth is so dry. He had been talking about more than he had been intending to. Including about the modified DNA in his cells. About Rotterdam, about Poke, about Carlotta, and about Achilles back when he was "Papa" Achilles. He skimmed over as much as possible about Achilles. Now he was tired of talking and wanted to know about Petra. Plus, it would give him a chance to steadily look at her without seeming to stare. He thought and relived over and over again about the moments just before she had left. I wonder if she still remembers what she said… he recalled her look of relief when he had said that he had "just stopped by to see how she was". She still remembers. She was so relieved that I hadn't come to cash that raincheck. I wonder what happened to her. She looks so old, like she's seen much more than she ever wanted to see. Then again, we all did. He stretched languorously in the big armchair and resettled his long limbs in some more relaxed position.  
  
Looking at him stretched out in the chair, arms and legs hanging over the arms of the chair, Petra couldn't help but notice how good he looked, apart from the thinness that she intended to fix as quickly as possible. Even so, she noticed this only briefly. Her mind was still reeling from all the information he had told her. She had thought his statement "I'm a new species. The line dies with me." had sounded odd, but she thought that it had just meant his intelligence. Now she knew that he might have been telling the truth, that he was a "new species". Now everything was explained, and it all made some sort of twisted sense. Including the reason why Bean had to die so early, even if it was a horrendous tragedy. Shaking her head, she cleared her mind and broke out of her reverie, saying "Pretty much it's all back to normal, except for the fact that more people are stopping and staring. It's not easy being a once-kidnapped teenage war hero, you know. I'm sure you know the drill: get stopped on the street by some wide-eyed kid who's your biggest fan, who thinks you're the best thing since, well, since. And no matter how tired you are of the routine, you've gotta do it, because he's just standing there looking at you with such worship, and you feel a little bit better because of him, but that still can't take away the knowledge that you've helped kill an entire intelligent race. Speaking of which, I wonder how the rest of Ender's jeesh are. I haven't talked to them, well, ever since Achilles. I talked to Hot Soup a few days ago, he was on the net the same time I was. Sounds like China is just like here. Except worse. After all, ever since they got rid of the population controls, China's been even more crowded than it used to be. You know, strollers and all that stuff. This house? Oh, my family bought it after Achilles, thought it would be better for me to be in the city getting reacquainted with the area. But, I'm tired. It's almost midnight. Let's go to bed." She got up and padded toward the stairs. "You coming? I have an airbed somewhere around here, it inflates in a minute!" she called over her shoulder.  
  
Bean slowly got up, and stood where he was, gazing after her retreating form. I can't believe I'm actually here. I can't believe…after so long, of trying to convince myself that I was incapable of emotions, I'm finally here…with her. He shook his head, mentally scolding himself, and headed up the stairs to follow his damsel.  
  
  
  
So, How was that? not too bad I hope. Read and Review! More is to come later! 


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